The present invention relates to a refrigerator; and, more particularly, to a cooling air circulating system for use therein.
There is shown in FIG. 1 a cross sectional view of a refrigerator employing a conventional cooling air circulating system.
As shown, the refrigerator 10 includes a freezer chamber 20 at its upper part, a refrigerator chamber 22 at its lower part, a compartment 24 positioned between the freezer chamber 20 and the refrigerator chamber 22 and a cooling air circulating system.
The cooling air circulating system has an evaporator 30 for cooling air therearound at back of the freezer chamber 20, a first blower 32 installed at an upper back of the freezer chamber 20, for supplying the cooling air into the freezer chamber 20, a second blower 34 (see FIG. 2) installed at a vicinity of the first blower 32, for supplying the cooling air into the refrigerator chamber 22, a louver 36 formed with a plurality of holes 38 through which the cooling air is supplied into the freezer chamber 20 and positioned between the freezer chamber 20 and the evaporator 30, and a duct system for guiding the air.
The duct system includes a first cooling air return duct 42 provided at the compartment 24 in such a way that the freezer chamber 20 is communicated with the evaporator 30, for returning the air in the freezer chamber 20 to the evaporator 30, a second cooling air return duct 44 provided at the compartment 30 in such a way that the refrigerator chamber 22 is communicated with the evaporator 30, for returning the air in the refrigerator chamber 22 to the evaporator 30, and a cooling air supplying duct 46 provided at the back side 12 of the refrigerator 10, for guiding the cooling air from the evaporator 30 to the refrigerator chamber 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling air supplying duct 46 downwardly, linearly extends from an upper right side of back of the freezer chamber 20 and then branches into a left and a right sides 22a, 22b of the refrigerator chamber 22 so as to feed the cooling air into the refrigerator chamber 22.
The operation of the conventional cooling air circulating system will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
When a door 14 of the freezer chamber 20 or a door 16 of the refrigerator chamber 22 is opened and closed, the interior temperature of the freezer or the refrigerator chambers 20, 22 increases. In this case, the temperature detecting unit (not shown) detects the increased temperature in the freezer and the refrigerator chambers 20, 22 to output the temperature detecting signal into the microcomputer (not shown). Next, the microcomputer allows a refrigerant to circulate, changing the interior temperatures of the freezer or the refrigerator chambers 20, 22 into desired temperatures.
To be more specific, the air having a relatively high temperature in the freezer chamber 20 flows toward the evaporator 30 through the first cooling air return duct 42 by means of the first blower 32, exchanging its heat with the evaporator 30. Thereafter, the air having a relatively low temperature is fed into the freezer chamber 20 through the holes 38 of the louver 36 by means of the first blower 32, resulting in maintaining the interior temperature of the freezer chamber 20 at the desired temperature.
Similarly, the air having a relatively high temperature in the refrigerator chamber 22 flows toward the evaporator 30 through the second cooling air return duct 44, exchanging its heat with the evaporator 30. The air having a relatively low temperature flows to a location at a vicinity of the branched portion of the cooling air supplying duct 46 by means of the second blower 34. Thereafter, the air having a relatively low temperature is forced into the left and the right side 22a, 22b of the refrigerator chamber 22 which, in turn, is fed into the refrigerator chamber 22, resulting in maintaining the interior temperature of the refrigerator chamber 22 at the desired temperature.
In the refrigerator employing the cooling air circulating system described above, the first blower, together with the second blower, are installed at back of the freezer chamber, which, in turn, sets a limit to the location at which the holes of the louver are formed, causing the interior temperature of the freezer chamber to be nonuniform. In addition, the second blower, together with the first blower, is located at back of the freezer chamber, which, in turn, sets a limit to the design of the cooling air supplying duct, hindering the cooling air from being uniformly distributed into the refrigerator chamber, resulting in the interior temperature of the refrigerator chamber becoming nonuniform.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a refrigerator including an improved cooling air circulating system.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling air circulating system for use in a refrigerator having a freezer chamber equipped with an evaporator and a refrigerator chamber, comprising: a blower installed at a substantially upper central portion of back of the freezer chamber, for supplying a cooling air from the evaporator into the freezer chamber, a first cooling air supplying duct for guiding a cooling air from the evaporator into the refrigerator chamber, the cooling air supplying duct downwardly, linearly extending from the blower to a substantially upper, central portion of back of the refrigerator chamber and then being horizontally, linearly branched into a left and a right sides of the refrigerator chamber, a cooling air supplying device provided at the branched portion of the first cooling air supplying duct, for supplying the cooling air from the evaporator into the refrigerator chamber through the first cooling air supplying duct, and a second cooling air supplying duct for allowing the cooling air supplying device to supply the cooling air from the evaporator into the refrigerator chamber.